The second phase of Biswa Ijtema, the second largest Muslim congregation after Hajj, will end with Akheri Munajat or final prayers today.

Noted Islamic scholar Maulana Jubayerul Hassan from Delhi will conduct the prayers which are expected to begin around 11:00am.

Ministers, lawmakers and political leaders may join the concluding prayers.

Meanwhile, 151 couples got married in a dowry-free wedding ceremony on the second day of the gathering. They did not need to spend money.

Jubayerul Hassan conducted the marriage ceremony after Asr prayers. Some 107 marriages were completed through a similar ceremony during the first phase of the Ijtema held between January 24 and 26.

Engineer Giasuddin, one of the organisers of the congregation, said they had arranged the dowry-free marriages as brides and bridegrooms showed interests in such marriages.

On the second day of the gathering, a large number of devotees from home and abroad attended the prayers on the 160-acre land on the bank of the riverTurag.

The second day's programme started with the delivery of sermons, prayer for exaltation and welfare of the Muslim Ummah, and recitation from the holy Quran and Hadith.

Maulana Abdul Wahab of Pakistan began the day's sermons after Fajr prayers.

There is a restriction on the participation of women in the Ijtema. However, hundreds of women from across the country have rented rooms of houses adjacent to the Ijtema ground to listen to sermons.

Meanwhile, three more devotees

died on the second day. With these deaths, eight devotees died at the Ijtema venue since Thursday.

Nur Mohammad, 70, ofSonaimuri upazila in Noakhali, and Mujibur Rahman, 55, of Mirpur-2 in the capital, died of cardiac arrest.

Another devotee, Abdur Rahman, 60, of Chapainawabganj, was killed in a road accident atTongi Bazar yesterday morning.

Sakhawat Hossain, assistant superintendent of Gazipur traffic police, said to facilitate the Akheri Munajat, the vehicular movement will be restricted at Bhogra bypass point on Dhaka- Mymensingh highway, at Mirer Bazar point on Dhaka-Tongi-Narsingdi-Sylhet highway and at Ashulia bridge point on Baribadh road from 5:00am to 6:00pm.

Several mobile courts filed six cases and fined different restaurants adjoining the Ijtema ground Tk 30,000 for selling adulterated food and for the unhygienic conditions of the restaurants.

At a press briefing yesterday, organisers of the Ijtema demanded permanent allotment of the 160-acre land to hold the yearly congregation.